


Assignment: Arklay - The Last Facility

by TysonDevereaux



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28392231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TysonDevereaux/pseuds/TysonDevereaux
Summary: Jill, Chris and Rebecca are on a mission to put an end to Umbrella's last Arklay facility. With adequate equipment and with the aid of a new team member, the mission should not be difficult. But with the interference of the infamous rival organization under temporary rule of an old enemy, and the presence of a deranged killer that is even feared by some Umbrella members, the assignment may be easier said than done...





	1. Chapter I

**TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER: Child abuse  
**

_**~1997…~** _

"Daddy, please…" White puffs came out of Gretchen's mouth as she was standing in the freezer room in a white dress. She was shivering like a leaf, but she didn't make any other movements out of fear for her father's wrath.

"Just hold still for one more moment, baby girl…" Gretchen's dad grinned. He took a cigarette from his parka after which he took more pictures of his daughter that was freezing in the cold.

"I can't feel my arms… daddy… please…" Gretchen coughed, for it was so cold that breathing was extremely painful.

"You have frostbite, dear…" Gretchen's dad softened his voice, only to laugh maniacally afterwards. "But is there anything wrong with that, baby girl?"

"Daddy!" Gretchen yelled. "You don't love me!"

"Of course I do." Gretchen's dad laughed again. "You dumb baby." In response, Gretchen started crying as tears streamed down her face.

"One more minute, dear." Her dad replied while holding his belt in his left hand. There were some bloodstains on them. "Just one more minute…"

_**~Five years later…~** _

"Good job, HUNK." The commander of the Umbrella Security Service grinned as one of his favorite soldiers was holding the girl by her shirt. "How did you find her?"

"Death always finds a way to the dying…" HUNK stated stoically while he dropped Gretchen to the floor. He grabbed his TMP after which he held it against the girl's back.

"Gretchen Lee Barrett," The commander kneeled down in front of the disgraced USS soldier, who was sitting on the floor with her handcuffed hands behind her back. "Walking away from a mission is one thing, although we initially assumed that you just perished. It was only when HUNK found you that we discovered what you were really doing…" The commander showed a picture to the girl with long, dirty blond hair. "It seems that joining the USS wasn't enough to contain your obsessive bloodlust, was it, princess?" Gretchen looked at the picture. It was a picture of a girl whose body was completely petrified and turned to stone with a terrified look in her empty eyes. The soldier did not flinch upon seeing the horror that she caused.

"Beautiful, is it not?" Gretchen smirked.

"That's your opinion. But my opinion on the matter is that you have betrayed us. Look, as the USS, we usually don't mind some casualties during missions. But when you trespass someone's property to kill and petrify someone who was not even in our way… that's where we have to draw the line, Gretchen…" The USS commander stated. "Or should I say…" He grabbed the girl by her chin. "The Arklay Sculptor?"

"Proof that…" Gretchen looked up.

"We have plenty of evidence that you are in fact _the_ Arklay Sculptor. Thekiller who is responsible for murdering and petrifying eighteen females, some of which still young. And now it seems that you have made your nineteenth victim…" The commander replied. "What matters now is that there is a choice that you have to make."

"Kiss my ass!" Gretchen frowned.

"Language, princess." The USS commander giggled. "Listen… since it's all too certain that we're having an infamous serial killer in our team… it would be better to fire you, princess. Umbrella's reputation has already taken a nosedive since Raccoon City's destruction, and the discovery of having a dreaded serial killer working for them may become the straw that breaks the camel's back." He explained. "We can do one of the following things: we can either expose you for your misdeeds and take you to court, where the judge will decide your fate. Chances are that you will end up on death row in a maximum security prison, seeing how much of a danger to society you have become… or, we will stay silent about your identity, but in exchange for that, we will deliver you to one of our facilities, where you will become a test subject for combat data. If you get out of there alive, you will have your freedom back. Don't bother telling people that you worked for us. After we drop you off, we will destroy all proof of the time that you worked for Umbrella. So, what will you do?"

"Death row?" Gretchen raised an eyebrow in confusion. "That will never happen. Not after the judge hears what I went through when I was young. You should know that daddy forced me to stand in a freezing room every day, just so he could take pictures of me in dresses while I was turning into a sentient icicle! He did it because he considered it 'beautiful'. And if the photos weren't good enough, he would always beat me with a belt. I still have scars from frostbite and beatings to this day. You can see them."

"And that _definitely_ justifies all the people whose life got taken away from them, thanks to you…" The USS commander said sarcastically. "Look, what you went through is very sad, but since you enjoy the art of petrification to an absolutely sick degree while having an unapologetic bloodlust that even makes other members of our service flinch at some occasions, I strongly doubt that the judge will show you any mercy…"

"Ugh, you little…" Gretchen grunted. She tried to stand up and attack the commander in a fit of rage, but HUNK pushed her back down before she could get the chance.

"I wouldn't do that." HUNK said coldly while continuing to hold the TMP against her back. "When you are standing close to death, trying to escape it only ends up attracting it…" HUNK made a clicking noise with his weapon in order to warn the girl.

"One last chance." The commander stated. "Because there is a third option as well. We can also kill you right here and burn all evidence of your existence. No one will miss you. There's one advantage, and that is that the third option goes quickest. It'll only take you five seconds, considering that Mr. Death here is basically ready to carry it out for you…" The USS commander briefly looked up at HUNK, after which he turned his eyes on Gretchen. "So, what's it going to be, princess?"

"In that case…" Gretchen sighed. "Take me to the facility. Just… take me there. I will survive that. You haven't heard the last of me. And besides…" Gretchen put a deranged smile on her smooth face. "I may actually _enjoy_ it there…"


	2. Chapter II

"Good to have you here, Jill." Chris said as Jill Valentine entered the helicopter. "You alright?"

"Can't feel better." Jill replied calmly while crossing her arms. "I'm always alright and in the mood whenever I have the opportunity to help shatter Umbrella to smithereens..."

"Seems like a given to me…" Chris closed the helicopter door. "You can sit down. There's also drinks if you're thirsty, as well as some tools for when you want to prepare your weapons. Either way, I won't be seeing you for a while, for I need to be in charge of controlling this helicopter…" Chris Redfield sat down in the cockpit while Jill moved to the back of the helicopter.

"Jill..."

"Hey…" Jill looked at the young woman who was sitting on one of the backseats. "Haven't seen you in a while, Rebecca…"

"It's been a while, indeed." The young medic smiled. "I think we haven't seen each other since that mansion incident in the Arklay mountains… it has been around four years. But here we are again, it seems."

"And with the same goal." Jill replied. "Guess we're both here to put Umbrella out of their misery... say, Rebecca… what have you been doing since the mansion incident?"

"I continued my work as a medic while further continuing my study in order to help victims of bioterrorism. And since working to put an end to bio-terrorist activities is a very time-consuming job, I came to the conclusion that I needed a little help. Thus, I created this little friend with some help from Chris…" Rebecca opened – what looked like – a laptop. Rebecca clicked on the power button. "Jill, meet our new teammate…" And a few seconds later, the screen lit up, after which a virtual character showed up on screen. She had the appearance of a glasses-wearing, black-haired girl in her early teens, drawn in manga style. The AI wore a black, long-sleeved top, as well as a pink suspender skirt with a pair of black boots. "Jill, I'd like to introduce you to Kitty. Kitty, this is Jill."

"Aloha!" The girl with long, black hair waved at Jill. "Nice to meet you. The name's Kathryn Chambers, but you can just call me Kitty as big sis just pointed out." The AI pointed upwards at Rebecca.

"Is she a real girl? Is there a real mind behind it? Or is she fully made of 'if, then' statements?" Jill asked.

"Not exactly," Rebecca replied. "She is 100% programmed, but she's not exclusively made of 'if-then' statements. Most of her pre-set algorithms allow her to learn and understand her surroundings, which in turn creates new algorithms for her convenience."

"You heard it." Kitty smiled.

"Interesting…" Jill said. "How and when does she assist? In which situations can she be of any help?"

"Many situations, miss…" Kitty stopped talking for a brief moment. "I don't know your surname… "

"Valentine," Jill replied.

"Alright, miss Valentine." Kitty giggled. "I mostly assist Becca during complex medical procedures that require immediate treatment. For example, if a victim is infected with a deadly virus, but they are not able to say where they are infected nor how they can be helped, they could die. It's not that Becca can't cure them; she can. Big sis is an excellent medic. The problem is that she doesn't always know where or how to start with a procedure when the victim is close to death while they are unable to speak." The artificial intelligence continued. "In my lifetime, I have examined and processed a lot of blood samples. So much so, that one drop of blood is already enough for me to know what a patient suffers from and what they need, so that Becca can carry out a medical procedure as soon as possible. When it comes to non-medical matters, I can also help people when they are lost, for I know quite amount of co-ordinates…"

"Several deaths have been prevented, thanks to her…" Rebecca smiled at Kitty. "It was a wise choice for me to build you, Kathryn."

"No problem, sis." Kitty smiled gently.

"Have you taught her to be a little sister?" Jill asked. "She seems to be modeled and programmed in such a manner… it's no offense, just wondering…"

"Oh, no…" Rebecca blushed. "I can understand why you think that, but… it's actually the opposite… Kitty has, in fact, taught herself to be like a little sister to me. Moreover, her usual appearance – the one that you are seeing right now – is 100% auto-generated, along with her voice. I only named her 'Kathryn', after which she proceeded to give herself her nickname while using my surname. I didn't have any particular model in mind. She did."

"I can confirm that this is true." Kitty gave a thumbs-up. "You can always trust and rely on me in certain situations during missions like these. Trust me."

"Say, now that we are talking about missions… where are we heading, actually? I wonder…" Jill asked.

"With the help of Kitty, Chris managed to discover one of the last underground Umbrella facilities, which is located in the Arklay County. Although we are not sure what Umbrella is doing in there, we think that it has something to do with producing the usual B. while trying to collect combat data..." Rebecca explained. "One B.O.W was found near it."

"An escaped B.O.W? Is it still out there?" Jill asked.

"Well, according to some news sources that Kitty collected from the internet, there was this truck driver who ran into a so-called 'disgusting, reptilian creature'. It's probably a hunter. So no, it's already dead, probably… but nobody bothered to check out where the hunter came from, so it's up to us to investigate…" Rebecca explained.

"…and get rid of Umbrella. Or whatever's left of it at the moment." Kitty joked while listening to the conversation.

"Alright," After a few minutes of conversing, Jill could hear Chris' voice coming from the cockpit. "We are almost there. Are you all set up?" Chris asked.

"I am." Jill said while grabbing her gun from her pocket.

"Yes, sir!" Rebecca announced while grabbing a gun and a medical kit from her bag.

"All powered up!" Kitty yelled enthusiastically.

"Okay. I found a landing spot. We will be leaving the helicopter in a few moments. We can't be entirely sure about the way this mission will go, but we can only hope for the best. Whatever takes down Umbrella is good enough to me – but we need to survive first." Chris landed the helicopter, after which their mission began…


	3. Chapter III

Gretchen coughed. The first thing she knew was that she had arrived at the facility. She looked around. It was a barren building with only a few wooden staircases and a couple of doors that led to rooms with certain types of furniture, all of which served as hiding spots in order to test the senses of BOWs. The next thing Gretchen noticed was that there were multiple cameras implanted in the near-empty wall, which all seemed to be focusing on her.

"Interesting," Albert Wesker looked at the television screens that were placed on his desk. He looked at Gretchen; at the former Umbrella worker who had just woken up from her slumber while proceeding to take a few steps in the facility. "It seems that Umbrella, despite being on the verge of extinction, is still trying to collect combat data by capturing humans. What's most astounding is that they are putting effort in collecting feeble data, yet they don't even think about tightening their security…" Wesker looked at the real-time footage that the rival organization had managed to obtain by hacking and logging into the facility's camera system. "Pathetic. Just laughable to think about. I can only wait to see how this charade plays out…" Wesker continued watching the live security camera footage.

"There doesn't seem to be anything…" Gretchen said to herself as she looked around while making her way to the second floor. "Are they in hiding? Are they popping out when I least expect them? I wonder…" And with little thought, Gretchen walked through one of the doors that was located on the second floor. "Anything in here…" The disgraced soldier went into the room. There was nothing but a cupboard, a table and some security cameras on the wall. And then, she heard a peeping noise coming from the cupboard. "What's that…?" Gretchen placed her ear against it. "Not a monster. I've heard this sound many times before… but all of them seemed to be out of fear, not?" She said the last words of her sentence a bit louder in order to grab the attention of the person that was hiding in the cupboard.

"Are you… human?" A feminine voice came from the cupboard.

"I am…" Gretchen said in her usually scratchy voice. "Is it me… or do you sound a bit… young to be here?"

"I indeed am…" The feminine voice replied. "It's just not my age… there are many reasons why I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not a criminal. I only ever worked as a teacher at an elementary school in Raccoon City, or whatever is left of that town at this moment. I escaped with my husband prior to the city's destruction… decided to live a peaceful life just a few kilometers away from Arklay County… I thought it was safe… but for some reason… I just woke up here… and it's dangerous. There's monsters here… and not a lot of food…" Gasps were heard from the cupboard.

"Don't worry, missy. Come outside. I'll help you out of your misery…" Gretchen crossed her arms. "Don't be scared."

"Alright," The young woman opened the cupboard and she stepped outside. She looked at the girl who was standing in front of her. Tall, dirty blond hair, and a black, double-layered striped shirt with a drawing consisting of bloodstains, as well as a pair of black jeans. "What's your name-" And before the former teacher could continue questioning her, Gretchen grabbed her by her throat and started strangling her.

"The name's Gretchen Lee Barrett." Gretchen said. "Seventeen years of life so far, and not all of them were all that pleasurable… but that has changed, and it will remain like that." The girl rubbed the young woman's cheek. "And you seem just like the person I'll need for that…"

"What… do you mean…" The former teacher coughed. "Don't do this… I'm innocent… why are you even doing this to me? What did I do?"

"I don't care about your status nor about what you've done." Gretchen raised her voice abruptly. "Innocent. Guilty. Ambiguous. It does not matter what you are. You look good? You feel good to the touch? Whenever I say yes to both of these questions, then that's all I need. And I just said it to myself…"

"Very unusual…" Albert Wesker said as he continued watching the livestream from his desk chair. He watched as the former teacher went unconscious from getting strangled. Then, Gretchen grabbed the young woman by her shirt after which she dragged her out of the room.

"What is?" Ada Wong went inside after which she stood next to Wesker.

"Most frail humans that get caught in a testing facility like this one, often huddle together like a bunch of helpless bacteria in order to survive. But this girl right here… this… Gretchen, as she is called… she single-handedly strangled a woman to the point of unconsciousness, right on the spot…" Wesker examined the footage.

"Maybe it's personal." Ada suggested.

"They don't know each other. That's the thing. But from what I could hear that girl say… it's probably personal indeed. Just not something out of revenge, but rather… something else..." Wesker said.

_A few moments later…_

"So this is it…" Jill said as she looked around when she, Chris, Rebecca and Kitty entered the facility.

"Yeah…" A disappointed tone was heard in Kitty's auto-generated voice. "I honestly expected more from an enormous high-tech corporation like Umbrella. This place seems pretty dull to me…"

"It's not surprising to me, considering how much of a nosedive Umbrella's reputation has taken lately…" Chris stated. "It's not easy to afford expensive materials when your income is lower than ever before." He turned his head towards Kitty, who was displayed on a small touch screen that was attached to Rebecca's vest.

"What should we do?" Rebecca asked. "Should we split up or should we stay together?"

"Well, let me take a wild guess…" Kitty said. "Splitting up, no?" The virtual teammate raised an eyebrow, thinking that her answer was right.

"We need to split up." Chris stated sternly. "Jill, you and I will look for and kill BOWs before they can wreak havoc. Rebecca, you look for any prisoners, for they may be in need for medical help."

"Told you," Kitty nodded.

"Alright," Jill agreed. "We're counting on you, Rebecca. If there's an emergency, call us anytime. We will also contact you if we see someone who is in dire need of help."

"Affirmative." Rebecca nodded. "Chris, Jill, I'll be exploring the east side of this facility." She looked down at her virtual teammate. "Let's do this, Kitty." Rebecca turned around as she made her way to one of the doors that was located at the east side of the facility, after which Jill and Chris turned around while making their way to a door at the west side.

"No…" Albert Wesker said as he continued watching the stream. "This cannot be possible!" He smashed his hand against the table. "Chris... that bothersome pest… foiling my attempt at collecting combat data again…?! This can't be real!"

"You know him?" Ada asked calmly with a somewhat mocking smile on her face.

"I know that nuisance all too well…" Wesker stated. "Ada," He turned around towards the spy. "Head over to the facility and take him down. Do it quickly, considering that his demise is already four years late…"

"Are you in charge of giving orders?" Ada said while staying calm and collected as usual. "Is the boss of the organization around here?"

"He's really ill. He told me that, as a high-ranking operative of this company, I will be replacing him until he gets better. As his replacement, it means that I'm also allowed to give orders. Now go." Wesker demanded.

"Will this grant me a bonus on my salary?" Ada asked. "I mean, I'm not exactly uncomfortable with assassinating people, but this 'Chris' doesn't seem too much of a pest to me… you can at least give me a good reason to end him."

"I will talk with the boss about it. I'm willing to give you a bonus if you just take him down!" Wesker smacked his hand against the table again.

"Well," Ada replied. "I'm off, then." She turned around after which she left the room.

"Chris, Chris, Chris…" Wesker turned towards the television screens. "I should've done this myself when we were at the Spencer Mansion. But that doesn't really matter now. What matters most is that it's time for you to die!"


	4. Chapter IV

" _Are you almost there?"_ Wesker asked Ada through his portable radio.

"I'm in the forest." Ada replied. "It has only been a few minutes since I left the chopper."

" _I hear you. Make your way to the facility, now. I want Chris. Whatever you do, do not bring him alive. After you end him, I'll continue the job once he's in my possession."_ Albert stated.

"Why would you need a dead body?" Ada smirked. "Isn't that a little bit ridiculous, 'boss'?" She said the last word in that sentence with a more sarcastic tone in her voice.

" _Chris has been causing nothing but trouble for the past four years. There's only one way for me to compensate those four years of him being a nuisance."_ Wesker stated. _"Now go. I'm not waiting. Keep in mind that CHRIS is already four years LATE…"_ He raised his voice in spite.

"Yeah, yeah…" Ada said through the radio. "I'm on it…" She turned off her radio after which she made her way to the facility.

_Meanwhile, at the last facility in the Arklay County…_

"Are you alright?" A shocked look appeared on Rebecca's face as she looked at the man who was lying on the floor. He was clutching his stomach and there was blood on his dress shirt.

"Help… me…" The young man coughed. "Please… I've been attacked…"

"Hold on." Rebecca said. "You can explain it later. But first, you need to stay calm. Don't worry, I'll help you." The young medic grabbed her touchscreen from her pocket after which she held it against the man's wounds for a split second. "Kitty, what's the treatment plan?"

"It seems that he got attacked by some clawed creature…" Kitty stated. "But that's not important. I'll tell you what to do." The AI proceeded to give an extended plan on where and how to treat the patient.

"I got it now," Rebecca said as she was treating the injured man. "However, there's another problem. The patient is getting delirious. His heart rate is higher than it should be. He's panicking. I gave him a sedative shot, but it isn't working. Kitty, can you please play some music or sound that will get him to sleep while I inject him with another sedative?"

"Consider it done!" Kitty nodded. And one moment later, extremely loud and ear-piercing death metal music blared through the speaker. The patient screamed for a split second, after which he fell asleep.

"Kitty!" Rebecca raised her voice after the music got turned off. "I don't think that was the right song to play…! Oh no, I hope he's not dead…"

"It is the right song. No more need for a sedative now. Seriously, sis, don't worry, he's just sleeping..." Kitty smiled nonchalantly.

"Well, his heart hasn't stopped… and he is at peace…" Rebecca checked the man's heartbeat. "But still, you need to be more careful when trying to calm a heavily injured patient… you could've given him heart failure…"

"Yeah, yeah… but it worked and he isn't dead, so that's fine enough. But I understand your point." Kitty replied.

"That's fine. Don't worry, Kat, I'm not mad at you." Rebecca stated. "Now I need to continue treating this man..." She continued treating the patient. "I hope Chris and Jill are alright…"

_Meanwhile, in another room…_

"Is anyone here?" Chris asked as he and Jill entered a room in the west part of the facility.

"What's that smell?" Jill sniffed. She looked to her right. There was a bathtub standing there, which was filled with steaming water. The water was cloudy and anything but clear, and it seemed to be a bit grey in color.

" _JILL, LOOK OUT!"_

"Huh?" Jill turned around. There was a hunter standing in front of her. However, it looked different from the reptiles that she saw at the Spencer Mansion. This hunter was light-blue in color and its claws were a blackened silver in color and seemed to be made out of rusty metal that was extremely sharp on all sides. There were also many solid, organic spikes growing out of its back.

"It's not dying!" Although Chris was shooting it several times, the hunter did not flinch in the slightest. Jill tried to injure it with her bullets as well, but it was no use either. Then, the hunter raised its claws and it was ready to attack. One moment later, it lashed out. Jill dodged it by jumping to the side, after which the hunter hit one heating pipe by accident.

" _GYAAAH!"_ The reptilian creature let out a loud scream as hot steam from the pipe got blown in its face. The hunter staggered. Then, the creature fell to the floor.

"Look," Jill pointed. "The armor surrounding its abdomen… it seems to be melting!"

"This is our only chance. Quick, Jill, finish it off!" Chris shouted.

"Got it!" Jill grabbed her combat knife after which she stabbed the hunter in the abdomen. With part of its armor melted away, the hunter's skin couldn't protect itself against Jill's blade. The reptile let out a dying scream.

"Hm. It seems that Umbrella still fails to learn from their mistakes…" Chris looked at the hunter that went down after just one sharp hit on its unprotected abdomen. "Their B. seem to get a lot of armor, yet heat protection is out of the question, it seems…"

"I honestly expected more from a company in a state of desperation…" Jill wiped the dust off her vest. "Ultimately, this mission may not be so difficult…"

"Jill," Chris looked up. "Have you already checked the bathtub?"

"I'm on it," Jill turned around after which she walked towards the bathtub. Not wanting to risk getting burned, she quickly put her hand in the hot water after which she pulled out the plug. "Ugh, it really is hot… who even thinks about taking a bath like this?!" Chris stood next to Jill as they watched the bath get emptied. "What…" Jill looked at what was left in the bathtub after all water got removed. "Is that… some sort of a statue… in a bathtub?" Chris and Jill looked at the object that had been submerged in water. It was a dark-grey statue in the shape of a young woman with long hair while wearing a long, solidified light dress. The statue had a scared look on her face as well as several crevices on her stone limbs.

"That statue, it…" Chris raised an eyebrow in confusion. "It… it feels too real when I look at it… how… how could that be? It's just a statue, but… I have the feeling that I've seen something like this before…"

" _So, it seems that the process has finished…"_

"Who's there?" Chris asked as he and Jill turned around. A girl in her late teens entered the room. She had long, dirty blond hair and she was dressed in black. The girl seemed to be holding something against her back.

"Gretchen, nice to meet you. Don't worry, I'm just someone who's really keen on sculpting…" Gretchen grinned after introducing herself. "And it seems that my newest sculpture is ready…"

"Did you make that?" Chris asked while pointing at the bathtub.

"I sure did…" Gretchen took a glance at Jill. "And I think I found my next model…" And within a few steps, Gretchen stood behind her. The girl grabbed Jill by her arms while holding a knife against her throat.

"Model?" Chris pointed his gun at Gretchen. "Just as I thought… you are the Arklay Sculptor, right?"

"That's what people call me." Gretchen said.

"Drop your weapon and raise your hands in the air. If you don't, I'll shoot. I'm not playing a game. Release my partner and you may have a chance to live." Chris stated.

"Oh, you can shoot me as many times as you want to… I haven't really been able to feel pain lately. All the pain I could ever feel has already manifested itself. And once it does, it cannot be felt again." Gretchen let go of Jill for a second in order to point at the scar on her left cheek. "This does not hurt… not anymore…" Gretchen pushed against her cheek for a moment.

"So _this_ will not hurt, then?" Jill, able to move her hands after Gretchen released her, grabbed her gun after which she shot the Arklay Sculptor in the leg.

"GYAH!" Gretchen dropped the knife as the bullet hit her, although her reaction seemed to be more out of shock than out of true pain. Jill, having released herself from Gretchen's grip, pointed her gun at the Arklay Sculptor.

"We're asking you to surrender now. If you take one step out of this room, we will shoot you immediately. No hesitation." Chris continued to point his handgun at the Arklay Sculptor. While he did that, he picked up her knife – which still had fresh blood on it – and put it in his pocket.

"Ha. See you around, losers!" Gretchen threw two polaroid pictures into the air after which she ran away, not bothered by the bullet in her leg.

"STOP!" Chris shouted while running out of the room. Once he saw the Arklay Sculptor, he lifted his gun in order to shoot her. He then shot in her direction twice, only for Gretchen to throw herself over the handrail. A loud noise was heard as she fell down to the ground floor.

"Did that stagger her?" Jill went outside after which she looked down when she stood in front of the handrail. But Gretchen was nowhere to be seen.

"She seems to be quite resistant to pain, indeed…" Chris panted.

"Look at this," Jill said while holding the two polaroid pictures that Gretchen dropped. Both pictures depicted the same woman with long hair and a long, light dress as she was submerged in water. The only real difference was that her skin seemed to be a bit more grey and solid on the second picture. "I think that we just found the end result of the process that is depicted on these pictures…"

"We need to warn Rebecca," Chris stated sternly as he grabbed his portable radio. "If the Arklay Sculptor sees our teammate, it may be the end for her…" He proceeded to try and contact Rebecca. "You got to be kidding me…"

"Is everything okay?" Jill asked.

"Poor connection…" Chris adjusted the antenna. "I hope that it isn't too late when this thing eventually starts working…" He kept adjusting the antenna, but no signal came. "Come on…"


	5. Chapter V

"Rebecca!" Chris shouted again. "Can you hear me?"

" _Chris, is that you?"_ Rebecca's voice was heard through Chris' portable radio. _"Chris? Are you trying to contact me?"_

"Yes, I am. Chris here," He let out a sigh in relief. "Listen. We have something important to tell you. The BOWs aren't the only hazards in this facility. Rebecca… you've heard of the Arklay Sculptor, right?"

" _You mean the killer who has murdered and petrified several females?"_ Rebecca asked. _"Yes… I've heard about it before… what about it?"_

"It may come a bit out of nowhere, but… I'm afraid that we just encountered her…" Chris stated.

" _What? How?"_ A slight trace of panic was heard in Rebecca's voice.

"We found a statue lying in a bathtub. She had a horrified look on her face and it seemed that she went through a lot of torment before turning to stone. We know that she used to be human, because we ended up encountering this girl named Gretchen. She proceeded to tell us that _she_ made the statue and that she found her next model. And then… Gretchen attacked Jill. I put two by two together and came to the conclusion that she's the Arklay Sculptor. She confirmed my claim." Chris explained quickly. "We managed to overpower her, but she fled. Looking at her past victims, chances are that if she sees you, you may be done for. Remember this, Rebecca: She has long, dirty blond hair. Wears a black double-layered shirt with long, striped sleeves. Has bloodstains printed on her shirt. She also wears black jeans and dark boots. Copy that?"

" _Copy that,"_ Kitty's voice was heard through Chris' radio. _"Oh wait, it's not my turn… sorry, sis. But don't worry, Chris. I downloaded this entire conversation, so in case Becca forgets some features, I'll be there to warn her if that killer gets here."_

"That's good." Chris replied. "Now stay there, Rebecca. If someone tries to get inside, don't. We will come over to your place right now. Only open the door if you hear my voice while hearing someone knock three times. If that happens, it's me and Jill. Now protect yourself. And if Gretchen manages to get inside, shoot!"

" _I don't know, Chris…"_ Rebecca replied. _"I mean, I do believe you considering the trust between us, but… I can't bring myself to shoot someone I've never seen before, nor whom I'm officially ordered to take down… isn't there another way to stop her?"_

"We understand what you mean," Jill replied through the portable radio. "But forget it. This girl cannot be fixed in any other way. Not after knowingly murdering many people in such grisly ways."

" _Alright…"_ Rebecca replied through the radio.

"We're coming now. Stay there!" Chris turned off the radio. "This way," He turned around towards Jill for a split second. Then, they ran downstairs after which they made their way to the room that Rebecca was in.

_Meanwhile, outside of the facility…_

"Here it is…" Ada said as she arrived at the gate of the facility. "I'm sorry, 'Redfield'… but I have an order to follow. It's nothing personal-"

" _Identify yourself."_

"Hm." Ada raised her hands in response to the cold, heavy voice that spoke behind her back. "It seems that I'm not the only player in this game…" Ada replied calmly.

"Just as I thought…" HUNK said as he held his TMP against Ada's back. "You must be working for one of Umbrella's rivals…"

"I'd like to say that I'm just a bystander, but I'm afraid that I already spilled the beans. But that doesn't matter…" Ada, without looking behind her back, dropped two smoke bombs on the floor, creating a huge cloud of smoke. "I'll see you around-" Ada ran away. Although HUNK wasn't bothered by the smell of the fumes since he was wearing his usual gasmask, his vision did get a bit cloudy. Trying to ignore the smoke, he shot in Ada's direction. Ada dodged the bullets by an inch, after which she took a shot at the roof of the facility with her hookshot.

"Don't get smart with _death…_ " HUNK, having successfully outrun the cloud of smoke with ease, grunted after which he shot Ada while she was climbing the building with her hookshot.

" _Ah...!"_ Just before she reached the top, she could feel a couple of bullets hit her leg. When she eventually made it to the roof, the gunfire stopped. Realizing that HUNK was reloading his weapon, she smashed her hookshot against one of the glass ceiling windows. And just when HUNK was ready to aim his TMP at her again, Ada used the hookshot to enter the facility.

"Umbrella to HQ," HUNK said in a transmission to the Umbrella headquarters. "We've got another intruder. It's not just these former S.T.A.R.S. members that are now fighting the corporation on their own, but it seems that one of our rival companies is interfering as well. Over."

" _One of our rival companies?"_ The USS commander replied in surprise. _"How did they find out about this facility? Did they hack the security cameras or something?"_

"Possibly. But that doesn't matter." HUNK replied. "What matters most is that there's a job to do. Don't worry about me. Death will take care of all of them…"

_At that moment…_

"Are you alright?" Chris asked as he and Jill went into the room where Rebecca was hiding.

"I'm fine." Rebecca replied.

"Still powered up." Kitty giggled. "Literally…"

"Good. We have to stick together from now on. First and foremost, we need to neutralize the Arklay Sculptor." Chris stated.

"But what about the prisoners who are in dire need of help and safety?" Rebecca asked.

"There won't be a lot of time for that now. We will try to find Gretchen as soon as possible, and after that, we can continue finding and helping prisoners." Chris stated. "Let's go." Then, gunshots were heard, followed by the sound of the main door getting kicked open.

"What's happening?" Rebecca asked.

"We have visitors." Jill stated.

_Meanwhile, in another room in the facility…_

"How…" Ada, usually calm and collected, shook her head in desperation and slight panic. Still bleeding from the gunshot wounds, she tried to move, but couldn't as she was tied to a chair. "How could this happen? That knife that I used on you… it's one of my sharpest and most painful… should stagger any enemy immediately… yet you… you only flinched a bit…" Ada looked up at the girl who had overpowered and immobilized her.

"I cannot feel any physical pain…" Gretchen replied after which an embittered look appeared on her face for a brief moment. "Not anymore, at least. Not after what daddy had been doing to me for all those years…"

"What are you going to do to me?" Ada asked. "Shall I remind you that I'm not interested in you?"

"That could be. Shall I remind _you_ that I have all of my interest in _you_ at the moment?" Gretchen grinned. She grabbed the spy by her cheek. "Miss… did you know that the only way to create perfect statue is to become one _yourself?_ " She pinched Ada's cheek a couple of times.

"What do you mean?" Ada asked.

" _Ada."_ Wesker's voice was heard through Ada's portable radio. _"I just want to tell you one more thing… from what I've seen on the camera footage, it has come to my attention that the woman who's holding you captive is none other than the Arklay Sculptor…"_

"You're kidding." Ada replied through the portable radio.

"He's not." Gretchen slapped Ada in the face. "He's not kidding. I am Gretchen Lee Barrett. But some people do indeed call me the Arklay Sculptor. But that aside… I'd like to state that it's unfortunate that you are already wounded. It means that I have to fill the bath right away. Whatever. At least I'll be getting something _unique_ out of it… oh… and one more thing…" Gretchen grabbed Ada's hookshot, which was lying on the floor. "I'll be taking this for a while. It could come in handy…"


	6. Chapter VI

"What-" Just when HUNK was about to kick open another door and shoot everything in sight, he felt his TMP getting taken away from him in an instant. He looked up to his left. He witnessed how Gretchen disarmed him with Ada's hookshot. "Well, if it isn't our disgraced princess…" HUNK looked up at the Arklay Sculptor as she was sitting on the handrail on the second floor while holding HUNK's TMP.

"You need this?" Gretchen said while holding HUNK's TMP. "Come and get it, then!" Gretchen aimed the TMP at HUNK after which she started shooting in his direction. "Well…" The Arklay Sculptor grinned after running out of ammo. Not bothered by the fact that she didn't have any bullets herself, she looked down at the ground floor. However, HUNK was nowhere to be seen. "Wait… how… how is that possible?"

"People call me the grim reaper for a reason, Gretchen Lee." And before Gretchen knew it, HUNK was standing behind her. Gretchen also realized that HUNK was holding his combat knife against her throat. "Hand me that weapon, now. And for safety purposes… hand me that hookshot as well."

"You will still kill me if I hand you your weapon…" Gretchen replied.

"I never said that." HUNK stated sternly. "I'm not here for you. I'm here to neutralize the intruders…"

" _Intruders?"_ At that moment, Chris' voice was heard as he, Rebecca and Jill walked up the staircase. He took a glance at Gretchen as she was being held hostage by HUNK. "Just as I thought… Umbrella decided to send one of their soldiers to finish us off…"

"I have indeed come here to neutralize all pests that are causing a disturbance in this facility. All four of them." HUNK said.

"Four?" Chris raised an eyebrow in confusion while he and Rebecca pointed their guns at HUNK, with Jill pointing her gun at Gretchen. "Is Gretchen the fourth one?"

"No. Gretchen is just a test subject for the purpose of collecting combat data for our new line of BOWs. She used to work for us, but after her reputation as the Arklay Sculptor came to light, it was decided that Umbrella is better off without her. Not to mention that this princess' bloodlust even scared some of our teammates." HUNK explained. "But about the other pest: It turns out that there is this spy from a rival company, whom managed to invade this facility as well. We do not know why she is here. But we do know that she needs to be neutralized as soon as possible. Now tell me, princess… where is she?"

"She's at a safe place. Don't worry. She can't move right now. And in a few hours, it will be permanent." The Arklay Sculptor grinned. "And beautiful…"

"Still living your wildest fantasies, it seems…" After that, HUNK looked up as Chris walked towards both him and Gretchen. "What are you doing?"

"Let's make a deal." Chris suggested. Although Gretchen was holding it very tightly, Chris grasped the TMP from her grip after which he placed it on his belt.

"Give that back." HUNK raised his voice after which he proceeded to threaten Chris. "Don't start thinking that you have the upper hand since I only seem to have a knife at the moment. However, you just need to blink once and this blade may hit your vital organs."

"Then you need to get past us first." Rebecca said after which she pointed her gun at HUNK as well.

"Listen. Gretchen Lee Barrett is a danger to society. She cannot be fixed in any way possible. If you allow us to finish her off, we will help you corner and interrogate the other intruder. Then, you will get your gun back, on the condition that you leave this facility and that you stop antagonizing us. You got that?" Chris asked.

"I don't think that's something I can agree with…" HUNK replied. "If all three of you escape death, Umbrella will be closer to their demise. I've been sent to this facility with a purpose. You are all well-known at Umbrella, considering that all three of you survived that incident at the Spencer Mansion. It is too dangerous for our company to keep you alive."

"Why are we even doing this…" Kitty shouted in frustration after which she generated a digital assault rifle, which she proceeded to point at HUNK. "Just shoot him! Why are you even trying to negotiate with him? Why even think about trying to come to an agreement with someone from a company like _UMBRELLA_? Just. Shoot!"

"Maybe she's right…" Jill said. "We usually don't shoot living people (unless you consider zombies as 'living'), but in this case, we don't have a lot of choices…"

"Well, then…" HUNK grunted. "If we're going to play dirty, so be it." He threw a smoke grenade on the floor, but before it detonated, HUNK stabbed Gretchen fatally. And as the smoke grenade detonated, HUNK threw Gretchen over the handrail after which she dropped dead to the ground floor.

"Quick, shoot him!" Chris shouted. After which he, Jill and Rebecca started shooting in the mercenary's direction. HUNK, having picked up Ada's hookshot, quickly ascended to the ceiling of the facility. HUNK lashed out at Chris by throwing his combat knife in his direction. _"AH!"_ Chris screamed as the mercenary's knife hit him in the chest.

"Chris!" Rebecca shrieked as her teammate fell to the floor. Then, HUNK landed on the second floor, after which he grabbed Jill by the throat. "You…!" Rebecca looked at HUNK in hatred while pointing her gun at him.

"I think that you and I are better off making a deal of my own…" HUNK suggested nonchalantly as he grabbed Jill's gun, which he proceeded to point at Rebecca. "You… you still seem young and innocent… not all too harmful for Umbrella, if I'm honest. Perhaps I'll let you live, but only on one condition- hold on…" HUNK said as he got interrupted by an incoming call. "HUNK to HQ, over."

" _HUNK, we need to talk…"_ The USS commander replied through the radio, having witnessed the confrontation through watching the security camera footage. _"I'm thoroughly disappointed in you."_

"What are you trying to tell me, boss?" HUNK asked.

" _You killed Gretchen Lee Barrett with your own hands without authorization. She was supposed to be a test subject. But you killed her before she even managed to fight one BOW. You, as a USS member, caused a certain amount of combat data to get lost before we could even collect it!"_ The USS commander shouted.

"Gretchen was a menace to society and the general individual." HUNK stated. "From a grim reaper's perspective, everyone in this world has a personal responsibility to survive. And as long as they are not being targeted by death itself, then no one, I repeat, _no one_ has the right to take that responsibility away. Gretchen has done this several times, however. She took away the responsibility of survival from many people through her antics. That's wrong, and I had to put a stop to it. Besides, she was also in my way."

" _It doesn't matter."_ The commander replied. _"You know the penalty when you destroy potential combat data in times of crisis for our company. HUNK, you're fired."_

"You can't do this to me." HUNK stated. "The former commanders preferred me over any other soldier."

" _Yes, the FORMER commanders. But I'm in charge now, I'm afraid. And I honestly never really cared for how long and how impressively you've been working at this company. If you bring Umbrella one step closer to destruction, then it's over for you. HUNK, you're fired. I'm aborting the mission right now!"_ The USS commander shouted while hanging up.

"What happened?" Rebecca asked, still mad at HUNK.

"It's your lucky day." HUNK said coldly. "All my orders to neutralize you have been scrapped. Umbrella apparently wasn't all that keen of the way I took care of this killer…" He pointed at Gretchen. HUNK released Jill from his grip while giving her back his gun.

"What are you doing…?" Jill asked.

"I'm letting you go. All three of you. It's your responsibility to survive. I'm not the one to take that responsibility away when I don't have any orders to do so. It's done for me and Umbrella." HUNK stated. "Take this." HUNK placed two packs of TMP ammo on the floor. "As I said, it's your responsibility to survive by yourselves. I can do without it. And keep the TMP as well. Oh, and especially that knife." He nodded at Chris, who was still lying on the floor in pain. "Don't remove it from his body right away, for he could bleed to death. Only remove it when it's safe to do so. Either way, I'm off. I can survive out there on my own." HUNK went downstairs after which he left the facility.

"Jill. Kitty and I… we will treat Chris. We'll do it right here, since I have everything I need. Would you please guard us?" Rebecca asked.

"I will." Jill promised.

_Meanwhile, in the room where Ada was staying…_

" _Ada!"_

"…Huh?" Ada, about to pass out from blood loss, looked to her left. Although her vision was blurred, she did recognize the logo that was printed on the helicopter. A spark of hope appeared in her eyes when she realized that it was the organization that she was working for.

" _Can you see us?"_

"Yes…" Ada nodded while speaking softly. She coughed when she noticed that she had a very severe pain in her throat.

" _Alright… we're entering the room right now. Stay there!"_ Then, the window got cracked open as two members of Umbrella's rival company entered the room. They cut the ropes that had restrained the spy to a chair for quite amount of time. "Hold on tight," The soldier said as he and the other member helped Ada enter the helicopter. The chopper then flew away, bringing the spy to safety after failing the mission.

_Back at the facility…_

"I'm hearing something." Jill said. "I'll check it out. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Alright, but be careful." Rebecca said as she continued treating Chris' wounds. Jill went downstairs, where she saw a blue hunter walking in her direction. Having learned from her earlier encounter with the same type of hunter, she grabbed a lighter from her pocket. The hunter lashed out at her, but she dodged it while tackling it at the same time. And then, Jill held the lighter against the hunter's abdomen, after which the fire-sensitive armor started melting almost immediately. At last, Jill shot the hunter twice, killing it.

"Coast is clear!" Jill shouted from downstairs. She was just about to go back upstairs, when a coughing noise was heard. "Huh?" Jill turned around. "Wait… weren't you…" Jill's eyes dilated in shock and surprise. She saw Gretchen Lee Barrett standing up on her own, next to a puddle of blood that wasn't from her. Gretchen then opened her eyes while taking a glance at Jill.

"Jill, what's going on?" Rebecca asked while she was still upstairs.

"It's Gretchen, she… she's alive, apparently…" Jill replied. Gretchen grinned in response. The Arklay Sculptor's facial expression switched to a more distraught look as she grabbed her chest in pain.

"What's happening…!" Gretchen shouted, feeling as if she was slowly – but surely – mutating into something else.

" _WARNING:"_ Out of nowhere, a female voice was heard from the speakers that were implanted in the ceiling. _"THE SELF-DESTRUCT SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. PLEASE EVACUATE THIS FACILITY IMMEDIATELY. THIS PROCESS CANNOT BE REVERSED. REPEAT: THE SELF-DESTRUCT SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. PLEASE EVACUATE NOW."_


	7. Chapter VII (Conclusion)

"It seems that Ada has failed her mission in taking Chris down…" Wesker said as he watched the security camera footage. "I would be unsatisfied about that, but it seems that Gretchen's supposed death is working in my favor…" He watched as the Arklay Sculptor, infected with the T-Virus, stood up without turning into a zombie. "I did not intend to do this, but since Chris will be busy fighting the girl for a while… I think it's best to make use of the self-destruct system, considering that our organization has managed to gain access to it." Wesker pressed the button, activating the facility's self-destruct system. "Foolish Umbrella workers… not even giving your own self-destruct system any extra protection. Very pathetic, indeed..."

" _WARNING:"_ A female voice was heard from the speakers that were implanted in the ceiling. _"THE SELF-DESTRUCT SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. PLEASE EVACUATE THIS FACILITY IMMEDIATELY. THIS PROCESS CANNOT BE REVERSED. REPEAT: THE SELF-DESTRUCT SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. PLEASE EVACUATE NOW."_

"What's going on?!" Rebecca yelled from upstairs. "How is this happening?!"

"We need to get out of here!" Chris, his wounds treated by Rebecca, shouted after waking up.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea…" Jill replied.

"Why not? There's still time to save prisoners! We just need to be quick, but Kitty can help us with that." Chris said as he went downstairs, albeit a bit arduously as he was still in pain from HUNK attacking him. "Jill, is there something wrong-" Chris didn't finish his sentence when he entered the ground floor, since he noticed how Gretchen had stood up after having been killed by HUNK. "What's happening to her…"

"I don't care. Just shoot her!" Kitty's voice was heard loudly as Rebecca walked down to the ground floor as well.

"Right." Chris lifted his gun after which he started shooting the Arklay Sculptor as she was mutating. But none of his shots had any effect.

"How strange…" Jill said after shooting Gretchen a couple of times as well. "Every bullet either gets absorbed and spat out or just bounces of immediately…" Then, a loud, high-pitched scream was heard. Jill, Chris, Rebecca and Kitty watched as the Arklay Sculptor transformed into a grotesque creature as her clothing become solid and armor-like while attaching itself to her skin. Her bones grew as she became taller in height while her fingernails grew longer while turning into thick, sharp claws. At last, her body became more muscular while a giant mouth with shark teeth appeared on her throat.

"DIE!" Gretchen, still having a certain level of awareness, ran towards Jill as her eyes turned bloodshot red.

"Quick!" Jill dodged Gretchen's attack. "We need to get out of here!"

"We can't. If we get out of here before this mansion explodes, this creature will run rampant and continue her killing spree! We need to finish her off. With the body of a Tyrant and her depraved mind still intact, she _cannot_ be kept alive!" Chris replied sternly while shooting several times at Gretchen's head. "HEY!" Chris tried to catch Gretchen's attention, but the Tyrant did not listen to him as she took a glance at Rebecca.

"You…" Deranged grins appeared on both of Gretchen's mouths. She pointed at Rebecca with her clawed fingers. "You… you look deserving of a statue… come over here."

"Uh-oh." Kitty said nonchalantly.

"Rebecca, run!" Chris shouted. Rebecca ran back upstairs, only for Gretchen to follow her.

"I got you!" Gretchen said with a loud and piercing voice after grabbing Rebecca by her throat. Rebecca screamed as she got pushed against the Tyrant's chest. "You… you will be a perfect part of my collection… I can already see your horrified, eyeless look after your petrification is finished. But first… there needs to be some modifications…" Gretchen opened both mouths. But just when she wanted to kill Rebecca, the medic got released as Gretchen got tackled from behind, causing the Tyrant to fall down the stairs.

"If you want a new statue for your collection, then try me!" Jill said after tackling the sculptor. After that, Rebecca ran away while Gretchen set her sights on Jill.

"First off," Rebecca gasped. "We need to rescue the other prisoners. Then, if Chris and Jill are still fighting her when we get back, we will try to find a way to help defeating Gretchen."

"Copy that." Kitty replied. Rebecca and Kitty quickly made their way to the room where they found the first prisoner.

"Hey…" Rebecca raised an eyebrow in confusion. "The lock that I put on the door… it's… it's gone? Wait… no…" The medic opened the door. "Oh no…" Rebecca said. "No…" She gulped in distress upon seeing the young man that she treated earlier. He was lying on the floor with even more injuries and with no signs of life. Rebecca lowered her head. "I... I failed… I… I should've done more to protect this man… I… I tried to save his life, but… I couldn't"

"Hey, big sis, take it easy…" Kitty replied. "It's okay. You did everything you could do. You gave him all the medical help he needed. You also locked the door pretty well before leaving. It's just that these vicious BOWs have become really adept at breaking and entering. Umbrella is at fault here. Rebecca… I believe in you."

"Thanks, Kitty…" Rebecca sighed. "There's nothing that can be done now. We need to move on…"

"Indeed," Kitty replied. "There isn't much time left…"

" _REBECCA!"_ Chris' voice was heard from Rebecca's portable radio. _"REBECCA, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"_

"Loud and clear, Chris!" Rebecca replied. "Is everything alright?"

" _NO. GRETCHEN HAS LOST IT COMPLETELY. WE'RE NO MATCH FOR HER. WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF BULLETS AND NONE OF OUR WEAPONS ARE HAVING ANY EFFECT. QUICK, TRY TO FIND SOMETHING THAT COULD TAKE HER DOWN. BUT HURRY! THIS MANSION IS ABOUT TO BLOW UP AND JILL AND I MAY DIE BEFORE THERE'S EVEN A MINUTE LEFT! HURRY!"_ Chris yelled in sheer panic.

"Quick, Becca. I know that you're still upset, but we need to finish that Tyrant." Kitty said.

"I know, but there's prisoners…-" Rebecca replied softly.

"I understand what you mean, but the thing is, we're running out of time. If we save the prisoners and get out of here, Gretchen will stay alive as well and the remaining prisoners may die at her hands instead. We need to hurry." Kitty replied.

"I think that you're right, Kitty…" Rebecca sighed. She ran out of the room after which she went into another corridor as she started looking for a weapon that could finish the Tyrant. "Is this something? No…" Rebecca said after entering another room, only to see nothing of value. The medic quickly entered a room at the end of the corridor. "Hey…" Rebecca noticed that there was an elevator standing in it. With little thought, Rebecca used the elevator in order to enter the facility's basement. "What…" As the medic entered the basement, she looked around. "What is going on here…"

"This is probably where they develop their weapons…" Kitty looked at all the medical equipment and enormous test tubes, all of which were used for the production of BOWs. "Becca, look! That could help us out…" Kitty pointed at a rocket launcher that was standing in the corner of the room.

"It may be our only chance…" Rebecca said. But just when she wanted to grab it, she got ambushed from behind. She could feel rough, scaly skin push her forward, causing the touch screen to fall out of her top pocket. "KITTY!"

"Don't worry about me, sis. Just get out of here! You can download me from the cloud, remember?" Kitty replied. "Go!"

"Yes…" Rebecca grabbed the rocket launcher from the corner of the room while evading the Hunter that ambushed her. She went back to the elevator, after which she made her way back to the second floor.

"Alright, Becca, you can do this, I know you can-" Kitty couldn't finish her sentence as the same Hunter stepped on her. Annoyed, the Hunter kicked Kitty away, after which it went towards the AI again just to stamp on the touch screen.

"HEY!" Kitty yelled in irritation as the display got cracked. "Don't do that. Don't you have anything better to do in your life-" Her voice got distorted as the Hunter stepped on the display again while pushing against a table. Eventually, one jar that was standing on the table fell on the floor, after which a group of leeches emerged from it. "What…" Once the display was going out as a result of the battery getting destroyed, the Hunter left. "…is that?" The last thing she sensed was that the leeches started covering the display. A few moments later, a couple of sparks appeared…

_Meanwhile, back on the second floor…_

"This is it…" Rebecca said while trying to aim the rocket launcher at the Tyrant. "Here it goes…" And just when she wanted to shoot, Gretchen spotted her. She jumped all the way to the second floor while smacking the rocket launcher from Rebecca's arms. She grabbed the medic again.

"Finally…" Gretchen grinned. "There's no running away now. No damage has been inflicted on me yet. Not even a scratch. Your friends are too exhausted to try and stop me. There is no stopping me. Now, you will become a part of my collection…" And just when the Tyrant wanted to finish Rebecca off…

" _HEY!"_

"Huh?" Gretchen turned around. She saw – what looked like – a black-haired girl who was wearing a black, long-sleeved top, a pair of glasses and a pink suspender skirt with black boots. "Oh hey… you look even better… just wait for a while…" She threw Rebecca aside.

"Huh…" Rebecca looked up. "Kitty… is that… is that you?" Rebecca blinked a couple of times while Gretchen walked towards the girl.

"I indeed am." Kitty replied. In a flash, she picked up the rocket launcher.

"What…" Gretchen's eyes dilated in surprise. Kitty smirked.

"The exhibition has ended." Kitty fired the rocket launcher. An explosion followed, and the Tyrant's killing spree came to an end – for good.

_ONE MINUTE UNTIL DETONATION._

"Hurry!" Kitty shouted. "Becca, can you walk?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Rebecca replied. Kitty went downstairs, with Rebecca following her. As they reached the ground floor, Chris and Jill started following them as well. They left the facility, after which they made their way towards their helicopter.

"No…" Albert Wesker shook his head as he witnessed Chris escaping from the facility. "No…!" He stomped against the table. "CHRIIIIIIIS!" He screamed. Wesker stood up after which he threw his chair against the wall. "This isn't over yet, CHRIS!" And a few moments later, the camera stopped sending footage to the rival organization's headquarters as the Umbrella facility got blown up – putting an end to the corporation's last facility in the Arklay Mountains.

_Later, in the helicopter…_

"How…" Rebecca asked as she, Jill, Chris and Kitty were flying away, leaving the Arklay mountains behind. "Kitty, how… how did you manage to get a body like this?"

"It's not that hard to explain…" Kitty replied. "After some Hunter broke the device that I was inhabiting, a couple of modified leeches took notice of me and started piling up on the broken touchscreen. The leeches were very conductive, and thus, I was able to use the last bit of electricity from the device in order to assimilate into those bloodsuckers. I managed to use those leeches to create a perfect, humanoid body for my convenience. Yes, my body is entirely made up of leeches. Just like that queenie you once told me about…"

"James Marcus, yeah…" Rebecca reminisced about her adventure with Billy Coen. _"I wonder if he's still out there, somewhere… Billy…"_

"Sis?" Kitty asked.

"Oh, nothing…" Rebecca replied. "What surprises me is that your body managed to develop this quickly… for James Marcus, it took ten years for those leeches to make a body that resembled his appearance, but for you, the leeches developed a body in less than a minute…"

"Could be muscle memory." Kitty crossed her arms. "Although I mostly I think that it's something else. It's probably a combination of being efficiently programmed to blend into other systems as well as a self-taught form of determination. I may not have true feelings, but I can always know what is best to do to save those in need. Especially when I'm programmed by someone like you, big sis…" Kitty smiled.

"No problem." Rebecca smiled back at Kitty. Chris and Jill remained silent for a while, with the former especially being focused on controlling the helicopter. Chris Redfield looked out of the window, relieved that they eventually managed to bring Umbrella one step closer to their end.

**The End**


End file.
